Claims
- 1. In a powder filling apparatus including a hopper, a rotatable auger for moving powder material from said hopper towards a container to be filled, anti-dribbling nozzle device including a nozzle member for inserting into the container, and means for applying positive and negative air pressure to a wall of said nozzle member, a method of cleanly cutting off filling of the container from a filling cycle without post-cutoff dribbling of powder, the method comprising:(a) stopping rotation of said auger for moving powder material from said hopper, and application of uniform continuous positive pressure to said wall of said anti-dribbling nozzle; (b) applying negative pressure to said wall of said anti-dribbling nozzle device; (c) applying increased short bursts of positive air pressure through slanted air discharge ports in said wall for forcibly removing any powder from the nozzle wall; and (d) applying negative pressure again to said wall of said anti-dribbling nozzle device following said step of applying increased short bursts of positive air pressure, thereby enabling cleanly cutting off filling of the container without post-cutoff dribbling of powder.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said nozzle wall is porous to air.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said slanted air discharge ports are located uniformly around said nozzle member and between said first end and said second thereof.
- 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said slanted air discharge ports are each slanted forwardly relative to a direction of powder flow into the container.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said slanted air discharge ports each form an angle of less than 15 degrees with said wall.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/197,921 entitled “TONER FILLING APPARATUS AND METHOD INCLUDING A NOZZLE HAVING POST-CUTOFF VIBRATOR ASSEMBLY” filed on the same date herewith, and having at least one common inventor.
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